Women's Super League Roundup: Chelsea Thrash West Ham & Nick Cushing Exits Man City With Arsenal Win

03 February 2020 11:45

Nick Cushing celebrated his last game as Manchester City boss in style with a 2-1 win over reigning champions Arsenal, and now heads to MLS to take on the assistant manager role at New York City FC. Chelsea - who are also keen contenders for the title this year - thrashed West Ham 8-0 at Kingsmeadow to keep pace with City.


Meanwhile, a controversial penalty meant Reading were able to hold Manchester United to a 1-1 draw, and Brighton earned a crucial 1-0 win over Everton.

Emma Hayes, who won the WSL Manager of the Month award for the second time this campaign, continued her winning ways by beating London rivals ​West Ham on home turf. The Blues have been netting goals for fun recently, having beaten ​Arsenal 4-1 in their previous league fixture.

Maren Mjelde kicked off the scoring by slotting the ball home after West Ham failed to clear a corner by Erin Cuthbert. ​Chelsea’s top goal scorer, Beth England, was the next on the scoresheet - racing past West Ham goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan to calmly place it in the back of the net, before Sophie Ingle managed to head it in from a corner to make it 3-0.

However, the goalscoring didn’t stop there, as Cuthbert scored a beauty in the early stages of the second half with a wonderful left-footed finish. Both England and Mjelde grabbed one more each, before substitute Ramona Bachman secured one from a cross. Chelsea’s final substitute, Emily Murphy, scored the eighth and final goal for the Blues, rounding off an impressive afternoon, especially with Sam Kerr missing from the squad.

​Manchester City sit at the top of the table after gaining an important 2-1 win over the Gunners on Sunday, giving Cushing the perfect send-off in his final game. Pauline Bremer was the first to find the back of the net, making the most of a Caroline Weir free-kick in the latter moments of the first half. City then managed to go 2-0 up after Lauren Hemp headed the ball into the top corner.

Arsenal did manage to get one back with Danielle van de Donk scoring after 58 minutes, but it wasn’t enough for the north London side. The Gunners have now racked up two losses from their last two games, slipping to third behind Chelsea in the WSL table.

Elsewhere, ​Reading and ​Manchester United's clash featured two penalties, as the Royals came back to earn a 1-1 draw against the newly promoted side. The visitors took the lead at Adams Park with high-flying Lauren James got the first goal of the game, cutting in from the left-hand side to slot past Rachel Laws.

The hosts were then awarded a penalty after Remi Allen was pulled down in the box, but Mary Earps denied Fara Williams from the spot.

However, Reading were then awarded another after a handball against Katie Zelem, despite the ball not appearing to touch the arms of United's captain. Williams made no mistake second-time around to secure a point

​Brighton were able to edge past ​Everton, with Aileen Whelan scoring on the verge of half-time to settle the tie in a 1-0 win.

Unfortunately, only four WSL fixtures took place this weekend with ​Liverpool's match against ​Birmingham and ​Tottenham's at home to ​Bristol City postponed due to pitch conditions. New dates for the matches are yet to be announced, but the WSL will continue next Sunday, with a tasty match between Manchester United and Chelsea the key fixture to look out for.

Source: 90min